• Barcelona City Council prohibits access to the beaches at the San Juan festival
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Barcelona's decision to prevent camping on the beaches during the San Juan festival to avoid crowds has led other coastal municipalities to protect themselves from crowds that contribute to the outbreak of the coronavirus. The possibility that the usual parties until dawn on the first night of summer move outside the Catalan capital has warned the towns around it, fearful that those who try to avoid the veto of Mayor Ada Colau fall on their coast.

To the south of Barcelona, ​​the Baix Llobregat coastline will close or increase security. The closing will be expanded in the festival to the beaches of El Prat de Llobregat . With the present memory of the high influx of public a year ago, the City Council has decided to nip in the bud the options for mass celebrations for San Juan on the coast.

Gavà will also close access to the arena. It will be prohibited from 19.00 on June 23 until 12 hours later. The beach bars may open, but without extending their usual hours and with the capacity adapted to current restrictions. The Local Police will reinforce the control to avoid breaches.

Castelldefels , with five kilometers of beach, is, next to Barcelona, ​​the city that receives the most visitors in San Juan. Its beach does not close but the City Council will take measures to prevent the massive arrival of residents of other nearby municipalities without coast or of residents in Barcelona who have a home in the town. To do this, it will close the roads that connect the highway and motorway exits with the sea, so that the three city beaches will only be open to residents, who will have to access it on foot.

The City Council anticipates that there will be fewer visitors than in previous years. "With these restrictions, we do not believe that many more people are coming than usual due to a possible effect called after the announcement of the closure of those in Barcelona," they assure from the City Council, which is negotiating with the railway administrator Adif that the Cercanías trains are not stop at 9:00 pm at the stop in Playa de Castelldefels.

About 7,000 people use the train every year to pass the festival in this enclave of the coast. Ten years ago, a train fatally ran over 12 newcomers on the way to celebrate San Juan. With the temporary cancellation of the station, the City Council seeks a deterrent effect. More than 200 police officers will participate in a joint security device in the city.

Questioned about Colau's decision, a spokesman for the Castelldefels City Council affirms that a joint metropolitan strategy on the closure of the sandbanks is missing: “In our case, we are coordinated with Sitges because we share a stretch of promenade, but we believe that the best would have been a strategy not only in the metropolitan area but at the level of Catalonia ».

Badalona and Tarragona

The domino effect that Barcelona has unleashed has led Badalona to correct himself and also prohibit camping on its shore on the night of San Juan. Before Colau's announcement, Mayor Xavier García Albiol had advocated tolerating small groups along the coast as a solution to prevent mass concentrations. Then he reproached the mayor for “unilaterally” guarding the Barcelona coastline and asked for a meeting with the other riverside towns in the metropolitan area to unify criteria.

The evidence that it could remain the only town in the immediate vicinity of Barcelona with its beaches cleared for celebrations has deterred Badalona. Precisely today, Tarragona has also announced that it will deny passage to the sea during the festival.

In Sant Adrià de Besòs , adjacent to Barcelona, ​​they admit that Colau's stance opts them to protect the beaches of La Verbena, which they will just agree on Monday. “It should have been done the same in the entire metropolitan area. When closing Barcelona, ​​it is advisable to do it also in Sant Adrià. The number of young people who could come would be uncontrollable and the cost of cleaning for the City Council, very high, because tons of garbage accumulate on the beach, "they argue in the local government.

Montgat will make it impossible at the festival to enter the only beach that has reopened, less than half an hour by train from the center of the city. Four more await to be restored from the destruction of the storm Gloria in January.

Mataró and Pineda de Mar announced on Friday that they will cordon off their sea line. Likewise, Mataró will not allow bonfires or bars to serve until late hours. Nor will it authorize dinners on the street, although it will compensate by allowing them in advance towards the new normality.

On the contrary, Calella will not limit the passage to the beaches although it will not accept concentrations in the sand. Viladecans will also keep theirs, with limited access, smaller, very different from the rest, although it will increase security measures.

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Know more

  • Barcelona
  • PP
  • Xavier García Albiol
  • Badalona
  • Catalonia
  • PSC
  • Ada Colau
  • Coronavirus

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